Chain pump
Date
[1787] 1788
Creator
James Cooper (British) , Engineer
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (drawing): 190mm
width (drawing): 257mm
height (paper support): 365mm
width (paper support): 535mm
width (drawing): 257mm
height (paper support): 365mm
width (paper support): 535mm
Subject
Description
Patent certificate for James Cooper’s invention for a new chain pump water mill with an illustration of the machine in section. Accompanying holograph letter from James Cooper, Poplar, April 8 1788, answering criticism.
Patent inscribed ‘By the Kings Letters Patent, Granted to James Cooper of Poplar, London, Engineer, for his new invented Water Mill.’
Original drawing from Designs by the late John Smeaton made on various occasions in the course of his employment as a Civil Engineer from the year 175[?] to 179[?], Volume 1. Containing Designs for Wind Mills and Water Mills for Grinding Corn. Collected and arranged by John Farey, 1821.
James Cooper (d.1801) British millwright
John Smeaton (1724-1792) was a British civil engineer, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1753.
John Farey (1766-1826) was a British geologist and surveyor, he worked on the published reports of John Smeaton’s work between 1809 and 1812.
Patent inscribed ‘By the Kings Letters Patent, Granted to James Cooper of Poplar, London, Engineer, for his new invented Water Mill.’
Original drawing from Designs by the late John Smeaton made on various occasions in the course of his employment as a Civil Engineer from the year 175[?] to 179[?], Volume 1. Containing Designs for Wind Mills and Water Mills for Grinding Corn. Collected and arranged by John Farey, 1821.
James Cooper (d.1801) British millwright
John Smeaton (1724-1792) was a British civil engineer, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1753.
John Farey (1766-1826) was a British geologist and surveyor, he worked on the published reports of John Smeaton’s work between 1809 and 1812.
Object history
Smeaton’s Designs were received by bequest of Mr Edward Farey in November 1913 as indicated in the copies of outgoing correspondence bound in the New Letter Books of the Royal Society, NLB/49/185 and NLB/49/312.
The collection was originally purchased after Smeaton’s death in 1795 by Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society and member of the Committee of the Smeaton Society of Civil Engineers. The committee undertook to publish a comprehensive selection of reports on the drawings which was entrusted to John Farey sr (1766-1826) and assisted by his better-known son John Farey jr (1791-1851) mechanical engineer and Fellow of the Royal Society. The work began in 1809 and resulted in three published volumes, Reports of the late John Smeaton FRS, made on various occasions of his employment as a civil engineer, London, 1812.
The collection was originally purchased after Smeaton’s death in 1795 by Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society and member of the Committee of the Smeaton Society of Civil Engineers. The committee undertook to publish a comprehensive selection of reports on the drawings which was entrusted to John Farey sr (1766-1826) and assisted by his better-known son John Farey jr (1791-1851) mechanical engineer and Fellow of the Royal Society. The work began in 1809 and resulted in three published volumes, Reports of the late John Smeaton FRS, made on various occasions of his employment as a civil engineer, London, 1812.
Associated place